So, I was clicking around on Google Maps, and whilst cruising over Northen Mali at a rather high altitude, my eye was drawn to a dot in the middle of the Sahara.
Taoudenni appears to be nothing more than a deserted fort in the middle of the desert, of which I’m sure there are many, but why — I wondered — does it get a place-name label? As always, Wikipedia holds the answer, and their entry on Taoudenni describes a fascinating place:
Taoudenni (also Taoudeni, Taudenni or Taudeni) is a remote village in northern Mali known for its salt mines. The salt is mined and quarried from ancient dry lake beds, by hand, using a crude axe. The village contains hundreds if not thousands (active and inactive) of hand dug mines that are approximately 10-12 feet deep and can extend under the earth for up to 30 feet in some cases. Taoudenni is slowly migrating, as it moves to a new location on the salt pan each time a mine becomes depleted.
Which would explain why it’s label marks nothing more than the mysterious looking fort, the actual ‘village’ has migrated to elsewhere on the map. It turns out that it used to be a place of exile for dissidents and criminals, and that the only water available to drink is salt-water, meaning that if you spend more than six months there you’re at risk of renal failure.
Given that the temperatures reach 60 degrees Celsius, I’d say renal failure would be the least of my worries.
Salt is still carried from Taoudenni to Timbuktu by camel along the ancient Azalai caravan route, one of the last still being used.
Amazing stuff, I must travel with Google more often.
